Cortex on Nadal's Racquet?!

Was checking out Hewitt's charity auction where Rafa's APD used during Wimbledon is up for grabs. If you look at the up close pic of the throat, there are ridges, indicating cortex?! I thought he used a pj of the APDC?Or could my eyes be decieveing me?

Was checking out Hewitt's charity auction where Rafa's APD used during Wimbledon is up for grabs. If you look at the up close pic of the throat, there are ridges, indicating cortex?! I thought he used a pj of the APDC?Or could my eyes be decieveing me?

Thank goodness, I thought I was seeing things! Could it be just a "publicity" racquet; it really wasn't played at Wimbledon?If so, thats a travesty. So much money for a signature on a racquet you can buy at TW.

I've been reading a lot about Nadal using an APD painted as APDC, but found no proof of it. I searched the threads and nothing....maybe I'm just not looking hard enough. Could someone please, show me where to find that proof. Thanks

I've been reading a lot about Nadal using an APD painted as APDC, but found no proof of it. I searched the threads and nothing....maybe I'm just not looking hard enough. Could someone please, show me where to find that proof. Thanks

This might sound exceptionally stupid, but I was just thinking about this, because I have never gotten a real answer--who does paintjobs on pros' racquets? Are there professional painters hired by racquet manufactuers just to paint their sponsered pros' racquets? Any info would be much appreciated.

i remember the us open commentators saying that brad gilbert actually got one of nadal's wimbledon rackets. I'd assume that one was genuine, or maybe it was just nadal trying to convince everyone that he uses cortex. Oh well, if its for a good cause i guess i don't mind.

Maybe Nadal did use this at Wimbledon. He probably felt that using his real racquet wouldn't be fair to Roger after what happened at the French, so he went to the store to by some APDC's strung with stock strings. He left the dampener off to further level the playing field between himself and Roger. His hubris almost got the better of him, but in the end his talent prevailed. Notice how the strings on this racquet aren't worn at all - almost like they've never been used. That shows how easy Rafa was taking it on Roger.

So go ahead and make a bid to win that racquet. Rest assured that it's the genuine article and not just some cheap piece of crap with his signature on it.

Good point, although, believe it or not, there have even been theories about Rafa using a Sampras "O" with the Babolat stripes and word embedded on, but that was just at my club, no gossip about that yet on these boards. But if that were to be true, which, again, it probably isn't, that would just be taking the endorsment thing a bit too far. :roll:

He probably did hit with it. They gave him a stock APDC with Pro Hurricane Tour strings he hit with it about 10 balls on the practice court and then they took it away to use for this sham of an auction. Too bad someone got so ripped off.

The listing also doesn't look that professional. Ummm. If this is for a good course why don't they put it on bigger sites for international bidders?

After seeing the Rafa pj'd rackets I seriously doubt he would use the APDC in wimbledon of all matches. He would probably sign a whole bunch stock racket per contract agreement with babo or other sponsors as give aways for theirs VIPs. I suspect this is one of those even if it is real at the first place.

LOL pro's like andy roddick and nadal don't have hte cortex system in there rackets. the cortex takes the feel off the rackets and the pro's don't like dat. so pretty much they are using hte same racket with a different paint design on it. the only reason why babolat paint their rackets with cortex system is so that they can advertise their rackets

Was checking out Hewitt's charity auction where Rafa's APD used during Wimbledon is up for grabs. If you look at the up close pic of the throat, there are ridges, indicating cortex?! I thought he used a pj of the APDC?Or could my eyes be decieveing me?

Ah, time for more sad revelations about how the business of pro tennis marketing works. Sorry to spoil Christmas for you kids, but there is no Santa Claus. It is fairly common practice for racquet companies to send a bunch of racquets to top players (sometimes at tournaments) for signatures, that are then sent out for auctions, charity, raffles, promotions, giveaways, etc. In fact, I have such an autographed racquet from Sampras's playing days. These racquets are generally the stock/production models that they "appear to be using"...i.e. the production version of their paintjob.

Nadal does, as many have noted, use the original APD (non-cortex) in competition, but Babolat sends out APD WITH cortex for promotional uses like this. So the racquet in question may well have an authentic signature, and he may even have hit a few balls with it to legitimize the authenticity, but it certainly is not one of his actual competition frames from Wimbledon, and it clearly has real cortex on it. The stringjob is also apparently unused.

The racquet may be worth something due to the signature, etc., but anyone who thinks he's getting the actual frame Rafa won Wimbledon with is kidding himself, as long as the racquet in question is the one in the picture. Only the market can determine what it's worth, but it would appear to be worth a lot less than is being asked. Still, if the bidding is part of a legitimate charity auction, as they state, then the selling price has nothing to do with market value, and the more it goes for, the better the charity does. So as long as the auction is on the up and up in terms of it beneficiaries, I suppose a good end will come of all this. Definitely some moral mushy ground, though...(i.e. is it good to be deceptive for a good cause?)

N.B. If you look at the wording, it says it's a "Framed and Signed Rafael Nadal Racquet From Wimbledon 2008.". It doesn't actually say it's a racquet he played or won the tournament with, so they may be legally covered, although it's definitely misleading.

Ah, time for more sad revelations about how the business of pro tennis marketing works. Sorry to spoil Christmas for you kids, but there is no Santa Claus. It is fairly common practice for racquet companies to send a bunch of racquets to top players (sometimes at tournaments) for signatures, that are then sent out for auctions, charity, raffles, promotions, giveaways, etc. In fact, I have such an autographed racquet from Sampras's playing days. These racquets are generally the stock/production models that they "appear to be using"...i.e. the production version of their paintjob.

Nadal does, as many have noted, use the original APD (non-cortex) in competition, but Babolat sends out APD WITH cortex for promotional uses like this. So the racquet in question may well have an authentic signature, and he may even have hit a few balls with it to legitimize the authenticity, but it certainly is not one of his actual competition frames from Wimbledon, and it clearly has real cortex on it. The stringjob is also apparently unused.

The racquet may be worth something due to the signature, etc., but anyone who thinks he's getting the actual frame Rafa won Wimbledon with is kidding himself, as long as the racquet in question is the one in the picture. Only the market can determine what it's worth, but it would appear to be worth a lot less than is being asked. Still, if the bidding is part of a legitimate charity auction, as they state, then the selling price has nothing to do with market value, and the more it goes for, the better the charity does. So as long as the auction is on the up and up in terms of it beneficiaries, I suppose a good end will come of all this. Definitely some moral mushy ground, though...(i.e. is it good to be deceptive for a good cause?)

N.B. If you look at the wording, it says it's a "Framed and Signed Rafael Nadal Racquet From Wimbledon 2008.". It doesn't actually say it's a racquet he played or won the tournament with, so they may be legally covered, although it's definitely misleading.

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I just hope the person who brought the racket is not going to read this thread ....LOL :twisted:

Maybe Nadal did use this at Wimbledon. He probably felt that using his real racquet wouldn't be fair to Roger after what happened at the French, so he went to the store to by some APDC's strung with stock strings. He left the dampener off to further level the playing field between himself and Roger. His hubris almost got the better of him, but in the end his talent prevailed. Notice how the strings on this racquet aren't worn at all - almost like they've never been used. That shows how easy Rafa was taking it on Roger.

So go ahead and make a bid to win that racquet. Rest assured that it's the genuine article and not just some cheap piece of crap with his signature on it.